Emotional Monsters

“The idea of science and short film-making is a similar vein”.

- Tim Burton

 I’ve done a few school projects where I had to build and create an ancient house or primitive village and always found it was fun getting my hands dirty. Although mine weren’t the typical science project for the science fair, the secret in doing these works of art is being creative; I guess most would agree or just automatically assume such approach. Director Tim Burton, he himself considers science and art something similar and has always tried to treat them as such. His latest film Frankenweenie (2012), remake of his original short (1984 – wow I really feel I haven’t been around that long) revolves around Victor’s lost and his scientific skills: the whole process is creative, like building his machine with a bike, Christmas reindeers, his mum’s waffle maker and so on. I interpret it as a process of creation, both for art and science [as in Victor’s chase], although the aims/purposes may be different; I would tend to favour art as I don’t see it as a limited performance while science seemed to be bound to certain boundaries. However, throughout time even science has proven to cross unknown horizons. Burton’s films tend to mix fantasy and horror to create something similar but different from mainstream Disney, regarding in particular his stop motion animation films; I consider The Nightmare before Christmas (1993) a classical such as The Lion King (1994) or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 – ’37, what the...). I would imagine Burton’s prince charming as Jack Skellington on a dead horse with falling pieces... or Johnny Deep. 

 Even before he could walk and talk, Burton watched and devoured monster movies; that’s what his parents told him. I mainly got, stop day-dreaming. Since he was a kid his passion for monster movies was profound and developed a sense of devotion to the most human of them all: the monsters. People do tend to look at you differently when you grow into liking certain things but it worked out fine for Timothy (so cute); most people would kill to work with Disney but let’s say the relationship between the two... is complicated and peculiar. Burton stands out for his unique style, although he tends not to fixate himself to a particular style/image; when you see a Tim Burton film you know it’s his due to a gloomy, dark atmosphere with unusual characters but that is how I perceive his talent: it’s innovative, unique and creative. 

Let’s draw upon his latest film Frankenweenie and detect his monster influences [probably containing some *SPOLIERS*]. The story is taken from Burton’s original short made in 1984, which at the time didn’t attract Disney, and traces the story of Victor Frankenstein who unexpectedly loses his dog Sparky and incited by his science teacher, tries to bring his dog back to life; which eventually entices his class mate’s attention. The film invokes the black and white movie monster Frankenstein, as Victor brings his dog back to life by sewing pieces together and using lighting; Sparky embodies “the monster”, while Victor the mad scientist and there is also Frankenstein’s bride, Elsa’s dog. Other than the names and characters, also scenes are inspired from the old black and white monster movies: like the ending part where action takes place in the town’s windmill which is burning to the ground, with the angry mob outside (Frankenstein, 1931); Shelly the giant turtle which threatens the town reminds me of Godzilla (1954), a giant monster which roams the streets while screaming people flee; the sea monkeys reminisce the monster from the black lagoon. Burton himself affirms that he considers many monsters as horror icons, such as Boris Karloff [Frankenstein] and Japanese movies: “I was never scared by monster films because I felt the monsters were the most emotional characters – at least in those old films”. 

Timothy reveals that he “find[s] black and white very beautiful. It gives a real sense of emotion”. I personally think black and white films are a bit more dramatic, there is no colour and so you perceive the story and characters differently; “when you take out the colour out of something, sometimes you start looking at other things, such as textures and characters”, can't disagree with Burton. I know you’re not here to really listen to my opinions but I can’t help but say what’s on my mind. I just love film in general and whether it’s silent, black and white or with special effects, if the plot and characters are exceptional and genuine I would watch anything. Tim Burton’s films are different and I like his gloomy characters and settings, also fascinated by stop motion. I produce a stop motion last year for digital media, simply tell a story with pictures, but I always have to complicate my life: I decided I wanted to create an animated stop motion and funny enough I took inspiration from old movie monsters revived by an episode of Supernatural (also in black and white)! The scene I really wished to recreate was Dracula, I just loved the lighting on his face; if you haven’t seen the episode do so [see clip]. 

 “I always felt confident it [Frankenweenie] was a traditional Disney film”. Burton claims that his work is similar to that of Disney, which saw his films as too dark for their line of work but in the end one particular theme coincides with both: the issue of death. He recalls films like The Lion King and Bambi (1942) which both deal with such aspect. In many other films and even TV programmes people have tried to explain death and what happens after but I guess as kids you still don’t grasp the concept that much... until you grow older and re-watch Bambi realizing your eyes have swollen and that you are running out of tears. 

AG 

Clips 
http://youtu.be/ki2CtwigsDY   Tim Burton – interview (29min)

http://youtu.be/BW5t9e8wemU  Frankenweenie (2012) – Science Teacher speech 

http://youtu.be/SoL6a37d1Rg   Frankenstein (1931) – Windmill burning 

http://youtu.be/FQitxcxiZbc  Supernatural, Monster Movie, Season 4 ep. 5 (2008)